OwnersDirect.co.uk is part of the HomeAway family, the world leader in holiday home rentals with over 1 million listings. We offer the largest selection of properties for any travel occasion and every budget. We're committed to helping families and friends find a perfect holiday home rental to create unforgettable travel experiences together.

Beautiful Tuscan farmhouse with stunning view and pool

Beautiful Tuscan farmhouse with stunning view and pool

La Spinosa is a traditional farmhouse owned by a British artist. Restored sensitively, it provides summer and autumn accommodation for 6 people. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, dining room and kitchen. There is a beautiful large traditional stone terrace and pergola for al fresco dining, an 11 meter private pool and extensive terraces with olive and fruit trees. La Spinosa enjoys a stunning panoramic view of the Tuscan hill village of Castelvecchio di Pescia and the countryside. Access and parking is easy and although secluded, three excellent restaurants can be reached within a ten minute drive, of which one can be walked to in ten minutes through lovely woods. By car Lucca is 35 minutes and Florence, Pisa and the beach resort of Viareggio are each 1 hour. La Spinosa is most suitable for couples and families. Facilities include an excellent DVD & book collection, high chair, cot and stair gate. La Spinosa is the perfect place for the perfect getaway
Walking : For those particularly interested in a walking holiday, La Spinosa, in the foothills of the Tuscan Appenines, is wonderfully situated. There are walking trails of varying difficulty and length throughout the area.
Support and advice: Paul, our English house manager, lives in the next village. He is a fount of information on buying food, restaurant bookings, walking trails and tourist attractions (both on and off the beaten track). Paul is extremely helpful and approachable but he will also leave you alone to relax and unwind. Should you need him at any time, Paul is always available, thus providing you with peace of mind.

Overview

Details

villa

1,937
sq. ft.

People

6

Bedrooms

3

Bathrooms

2

Popular Features

Barbecue

Wireless Internet

Washing Machine

Private Pool

About the property

3 Bedrooms, sleeps 6, 2 bathrooms

La Spinosa is a traditional farmhouse owned by a British artist. Restored sensitively, it provides summer and autumn accommodation for 6 people. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, dining room and kitchen. There is a beautiful large traditional stone terrace and pergola for al fresco dining, an 11 meter private pool and extensive terraces with olive and fruit trees. La Spinosa enjoys a stunning panoramic view of the Tuscan hill village of Castelvecchio di Pescia and the countryside. Access and parking is easy and although secluded, three excellent restaurants can be reached within a ten minute drive, of which one can be walked to in ten minutes through lovely woods. By car Lucca is 35 minutes and Florence, Pisa and the beach resort of Viareggio are each 1 hour. La Spinosa is most suitable for couples and families. Facilities include an excellent DVD & book collection, high chair, cot and stair gate. La Spinosa is the perfect place for the perfect getaway

Walking : For those particularly interested in a walking holiday, La Spinosa, in the foothills of the Tuscan Appenines, is wonderfully situated. There are walking trails of varying difficulty and length throughout the area.

Support and advice: Paul, our English house manager, lives in the next village. He is a fount of information on buying food, restaurant bookings, walking trails and tourist attractions (both on and off the beaten track). Paul is extremely helpful and approachable but he will also leave you alone to relax and unwind. Should you need him at any time, Paul is always available, thus providing you with peace of mind.

About Vaughan Grylls

Vaughan is an artist and writer (www.vaughangrylls.com) and retired head of the University for the Creative Arts in Kent and Surrey where he serves as emeritus professor. Polly is the director of a publishing company in London. Two grown up children.

We divide our time between our house in London, La Spinosa and Hop Farm in Kent, which has a fabulous indoor pool and which we also rent out - property no 1194207.

Vaughan Grylls purchased this villa in 2003

Why Vaughan Grylls chose Pescia

Perfectly situated to fly to ( 1 hour from Florence and Pisa airports), away from it all, yet near very good restaurants and within easy reach of Tuscany's main cultural attractions. La Spinosa has its own swimming pool.

What makes this villa unique

The cock crows, heralding the dawn,

The church bell tolls, announcing the hour,

The night-watching dogs begin to bark at one another,

The sun appears gently over the ridge of the mountain,

The day has started.

The day is always at its best first thing,

Everything is fresh as the woodpecker claims its territory.

Up above, the honey buzzard circles for its prey,

From its vantage point, the Tuscan farmhouse on the ridge,

Observes the waking houses' smoke fires drifting through the valley,

The first warm, golden yellow rays of sun penetrate,

Through the old, varnished shutters,

All is silent.

Far off, one see the beautiful hilltop village,

Sheltered by cypress trees, giving the place its identity,

One begins to hear the splutter of a three-wheeled van.

As the workman begins his journey to work,

The day has begun.

Martin Shaw.

- who stayed at La Spinosa in September 2013

Guestbook comments from the manager

Dear Polly and Vaughan,

What a beautiful hideaway! Thank you for opening it up to complete strangers.

For the last two weeks this really felt like home, not just a vacation house! We really enjoyed the well-equipped kitchen that allowed us to cook proper meals. We even made fig preserve from the magnificent fruit trees in the garden.

At night we listened to the wild boar digging in your garden (sorry!) and watched the pheasant march around during the day.

Unfortunately the weather was a bit erratic and we hardly used the pool. Instead we spent a lot of time in front of the log burner, reading from your extensive library.

What can we say about Paul that hasn’t been said already?! He’s a treasure!

La Spinosa is within an hour's drive of Florence, Pisa and the famous seaside resort of Viareggio with its annual Puccini summer festival at Torre de Lago. The beautiful walled city of Lucca is just over half an hour away.

The hill village of Castlevechio ,which La Spinosa overlooks' is the central village of ten picturesque hill villages which form the Dieci Castella. All are in easy reach and a visit to each is highly recommended. Castelvecchio itself boasts the Dieci Castella's tenth century Romanesque 'cathedral' while the village's church sits above a recently discovered and restored crypt whose walls are covered with 16th century frescoes.

Castelvecchio has three very good yet reasonably priced restaurants, a small shop and a post office. Walking (ten minutes) or driving (three) to the village is a treat as the road winds through beautiful chestnut woods with lovely views. Indeed walking anywhere in the Dieci Castella is highly recommended.

Fabulous

Owner's Response: Hi Susie,
Delighted you enjoyed La Spinosa! It is your own home from home, stunning view, own pool, private, away from it all yet within easy reach of civilisation i.e. lovely restaurants!

Great relax in the middle of nature with total privacy

Stayed for 10 days in July and we really loved it. The house was very nice and clean with all what we needed. I love to cook so I appreciated well equipped kitchen. Pool was great and relaxing around in the garden was fantastic.... highly recommend

Perfect place to unwind

Five of us had a wonderful summer holiday at La Spinosa. My 11-year-old son loved it because of the wi-fi, pool and great local food, whereas the three generations of girls (my daughter, wife and mum) loved the more traditional attractions (particularly Florence and Lucca, which are both within easy reach). Me? I just drank too much wine, chilled out by the pool and played a bit of tennis. It was perfect. And Paul gets a special mention for being so kind and helpful.

Review Submitted: 02-Oct-2016

Date of Stay: July 2016

Source: Owners Direct, from HomeAway

Owner's Response: We are delighted that you all loved La Spinosa. It really is the perfect place to unwind and Paul is simply terrific in supplying advice and help should you need it - i.e. complete peace of mind.

Just beautiful!

What a find! This property was just what we were looking for. Total peace and quiet but not too far for day trips to Florence, Pisa, Lucca and the coast.The house is clean and spacious but it is the beautiful garden, the pool and the fabulous views that make this place so amazing. I will miss lying in the garden with a glass of wine looking out across to the local village and wonderful countryside, watching the swallows fly across the pool.

There is a nice restaurant within walking distance and two others just a short drive away. Paul, the manager, was friendly and helpful in supplying local knowledge.

Absolutely amazing property with stunning views

We had been looking forward to our Tuscan holiday for a while and La Spinosa did not disappoint!! What a find! This lovely Tuscan farmhouse with stunning views across the Tuscan countryside was everything we could have hoped for. It was clean and well maintained with all facilities that you would need on holiday. The grounds are an amazing haven of nature and wildlife which even my 15 year old son appreciated! We are keen swimmers so the 11m pool was very welcome - nothing like an early morning dip with the sun rising (a little on the chilly side but if you keep moving it is fine!) The house manager, Paul, was very helpful and informative and even bought our rail tickets for us on two occasions. We only tried one of the local restaurants - La Pieve which does extremely good pizzas! I would certainly recommend this property, if it is a quiet, away from it all holiday you are after. Having said that, the train service is very good and the station is only a 25 minute drive away - and very reasonably priced.

Review Submitted: 18-Aug-2016

Date of Stay: August 2016

Source: HomeAway

Owner's Response: We are delighted you enjoyed La Spinosa. We are proud to share this very special place.

A tranquil hideaway

We loved the farmhouse and had a peaceful week perched up on the hillside with spectacular views. The house was comfortable and very well equipped with lots of shady areas to sit and a lovely clean pool. As it was quite isolated, we found the driving up and down quite unnerving with Italian drivers speeding past so only ventured out to visit Lucca which was spectacular and to go to the supermarket which was 30/40 minutes drive away in Peschia. The thick walls of the house mean it is always cool inside. It was convenient having a restaurant that we could walk to in the village and a couple more close by but we loved eating on the terrace and enjoying the panoramic view. The only downside was the incessant dog barking at night which disturbed the peace but otherwise it is a lovely spot.

Review Submitted: 04-Aug-2016

Date of Stay: July 2016

Source: Owners Direct, from HomeAway

Owner's Response: Delighted you loved La Spinosa! Italian dogs do tend to bark at the fireflies at certain times of the year, while Italian drivers are like that the year round!